Time to learn more self defense!
Jan. 3rd, 2005 02:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bonniegrrlJust read this in the Mission neighborhood section of Tribe.net about a girl in my "safe" Mission neighborhood -- near 22 and Guerrero -- who was attacked the other day by an unknown man. Luckily a neighbor came to her rescue and she is physically alright.
Here's what the post said:
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my dear friends,
i work at a restaurant just around the corner from my flat, in a neighborhood where i've felt safe and at home for ten years by now. on tuesday night, the winter solstice, i left work at about 10:30pm, as usual, and starting walking home. i turned down my street, a small quiet street off of valencia in the mission. maybe a third of the way up my block, i heard the door of a parked car slam behind me ... and then foot steps toward me. i had an intuitive feeling that something wasn't right. i turned around to see who was behind me, and there was a man i couldn't see very well walking toward me, staring at me ... his energy felt fierce. i kept walking and so did he. for some reason, i knew that i didn't want this man to know where i live, so i proceeded past my house and turned left at the end of the block onto guerrero. he followed me. i decided to head toward the lone palm, a local bar around the corner ... a public place. but just as i turned onto twenty-scond street and out of the light of guerrero, he grabbed me, his hand over my mouth, and started pushing me down the street. he had me completely contained and i couldn't yell out. by the good grace of the universe, a man came down some stairs ~~ a stranger to me ~~ just as we were about to pass his house; he had some bags of recycling to leave on the curb. he saw us, assessed the situation, i guess, and shouted as loud as he could,"what the fuck are you doing?!" the man who was holding me, let go and ran away.
my rescuer came to me and took me inside his place, put water on for tea, and called the police, waited with me while they came and took the report, and then sat with me while i waited for a dear from of mine in berkeley to meet me there and take me home. my friend stayed
up with me all night while i rambled on and thrashed about. my body and mind relaxed enough by six-thirty yesterday morning and we were able to sleep for a bit. i didn't go to my day job yesterday, but i went back to work last night at the same restaurant. at the end of my shift, one of my co-workers kindly walked me home.
so what am i feeling that's bad right now? physically, every inch of my body, inside and out, aches from the brief struggle and the tension i've carried around with me for the last forty hours. i'm hopeful that the incident was random, but concerned that that man has been watching me, knows my schedule, knows where i live. i feel frustrated and sad and angry that my sense of well-being and security has been trespassed.
what am i feeling that's good? a lot of gratitude. i am so immensely grateful today ... for the stranger ~~ my neighbor ~~ who appeared out of nowhere to ensure my safety, for the solstice for facilitating the darkest day to pass, ... yeah, even for the potential abuser for not hurting me ... i'm tremdously grateful for you all, for being there and with whom i entrust this little story ... that you are reading this with love and care but not pity ... and i'm grateful for my dear friend who, without flinching, with no sleep and undying energy, comforted me and held the space for me to be afraid, while really seeing me, the larger sense of me and my strength. he commanded me to know that despite my small size, he experiences me as huge; and heencouraged me to learn to see myself as a compassionate warrior.
after he left me yesterday, i went for a little walk around my neighborhood and felt empowered by my ability to still feel deeply at home and even at peace. i am at the mercy of no one, and will not allow one transgressor to diminish my life and sense of self.
i had asked my friend before he left what i could do to not feel fear yesterday, and in the clean sunny air of the new day, i realized that i didn't need to do anything. with one breath, the fear may come ...
i've learned through my meditation practice that the next breath almost always holds a completely different story. and so, yes, i'm having my good moments and my difficult ones and sitting through them all as the arise and pass.
my dear friends, and especially my dear sisters ... let us all be consious and awake, walk with certainty and awareness, mind how we go. can we do that and still feel that we are safe, we are free, and we are loved? can we do that and still maintain our open hearts? can we see ourselves as compassionate warriors? i believe i can ... it's written into my journey.
thank you so much for reading. i wish you very safe and happy holidays and love and peace unto you all.
~ruthie
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I don't even know how to deal with that. I've been living in this neighborhood for over a year now telling people that I live in the "safer" area of the Mission. But to tell you the truth, it's probably not any safer than any other part of the Mission. I hear plenty of distant gun shots. People fight in the dinky dog park below my window all the time. And I can't believe I've been walking from my place to the Latin and 12 Galaxies all the time, without the slightest worry that I could be attacked at 10:30pm. Now I'm seriously freaked out. I come home late from work all the time. Does this mean I'm going to get nabbed when I'm opening my garage door to park? Should I always drive to 12 Galaxies instead of walking and then cabbing? Ugh.
I'm learning Tae Kwon Do, and know a tiny bit of self defense moves [thanks Andy!], but when it comes down to being attacked, will I remember how to kick ass in time? Or will I panic and forget everything I learned to protect myself? Should I just bail altogether and move to the Sunset? Am I any safer there than in the Mission?
It's these types of things that make me toss and turn at night. Sometimes I wish I still lived in a cabin in Boulder Creek where my only enemies were hungry racoons. *sigh*
Here's what the post said:
-------
my dear friends,
i work at a restaurant just around the corner from my flat, in a neighborhood where i've felt safe and at home for ten years by now. on tuesday night, the winter solstice, i left work at about 10:30pm, as usual, and starting walking home. i turned down my street, a small quiet street off of valencia in the mission. maybe a third of the way up my block, i heard the door of a parked car slam behind me ... and then foot steps toward me. i had an intuitive feeling that something wasn't right. i turned around to see who was behind me, and there was a man i couldn't see very well walking toward me, staring at me ... his energy felt fierce. i kept walking and so did he. for some reason, i knew that i didn't want this man to know where i live, so i proceeded past my house and turned left at the end of the block onto guerrero. he followed me. i decided to head toward the lone palm, a local bar around the corner ... a public place. but just as i turned onto twenty-scond street and out of the light of guerrero, he grabbed me, his hand over my mouth, and started pushing me down the street. he had me completely contained and i couldn't yell out. by the good grace of the universe, a man came down some stairs ~~ a stranger to me ~~ just as we were about to pass his house; he had some bags of recycling to leave on the curb. he saw us, assessed the situation, i guess, and shouted as loud as he could,"what the fuck are you doing?!" the man who was holding me, let go and ran away.
my rescuer came to me and took me inside his place, put water on for tea, and called the police, waited with me while they came and took the report, and then sat with me while i waited for a dear from of mine in berkeley to meet me there and take me home. my friend stayed
up with me all night while i rambled on and thrashed about. my body and mind relaxed enough by six-thirty yesterday morning and we were able to sleep for a bit. i didn't go to my day job yesterday, but i went back to work last night at the same restaurant. at the end of my shift, one of my co-workers kindly walked me home.
so what am i feeling that's bad right now? physically, every inch of my body, inside and out, aches from the brief struggle and the tension i've carried around with me for the last forty hours. i'm hopeful that the incident was random, but concerned that that man has been watching me, knows my schedule, knows where i live. i feel frustrated and sad and angry that my sense of well-being and security has been trespassed.
what am i feeling that's good? a lot of gratitude. i am so immensely grateful today ... for the stranger ~~ my neighbor ~~ who appeared out of nowhere to ensure my safety, for the solstice for facilitating the darkest day to pass, ... yeah, even for the potential abuser for not hurting me ... i'm tremdously grateful for you all, for being there and with whom i entrust this little story ... that you are reading this with love and care but not pity ... and i'm grateful for my dear friend who, without flinching, with no sleep and undying energy, comforted me and held the space for me to be afraid, while really seeing me, the larger sense of me and my strength. he commanded me to know that despite my small size, he experiences me as huge; and heencouraged me to learn to see myself as a compassionate warrior.
after he left me yesterday, i went for a little walk around my neighborhood and felt empowered by my ability to still feel deeply at home and even at peace. i am at the mercy of no one, and will not allow one transgressor to diminish my life and sense of self.
i had asked my friend before he left what i could do to not feel fear yesterday, and in the clean sunny air of the new day, i realized that i didn't need to do anything. with one breath, the fear may come ...
i've learned through my meditation practice that the next breath almost always holds a completely different story. and so, yes, i'm having my good moments and my difficult ones and sitting through them all as the arise and pass.
my dear friends, and especially my dear sisters ... let us all be consious and awake, walk with certainty and awareness, mind how we go. can we do that and still feel that we are safe, we are free, and we are loved? can we do that and still maintain our open hearts? can we see ourselves as compassionate warriors? i believe i can ... it's written into my journey.
thank you so much for reading. i wish you very safe and happy holidays and love and peace unto you all.
~ruthie
------------------
I don't even know how to deal with that. I've been living in this neighborhood for over a year now telling people that I live in the "safer" area of the Mission. But to tell you the truth, it's probably not any safer than any other part of the Mission. I hear plenty of distant gun shots. People fight in the dinky dog park below my window all the time. And I can't believe I've been walking from my place to the Latin and 12 Galaxies all the time, without the slightest worry that I could be attacked at 10:30pm. Now I'm seriously freaked out. I come home late from work all the time. Does this mean I'm going to get nabbed when I'm opening my garage door to park? Should I always drive to 12 Galaxies instead of walking and then cabbing? Ugh.
I'm learning Tae Kwon Do, and know a tiny bit of self defense moves [thanks Andy!], but when it comes down to being attacked, will I remember how to kick ass in time? Or will I panic and forget everything I learned to protect myself? Should I just bail altogether and move to the Sunset? Am I any safer there than in the Mission?
It's these types of things that make me toss and turn at night. Sometimes I wish I still lived in a cabin in Boulder Creek where my only enemies were hungry racoons. *sigh*
